School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, 4/F, William M. W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China.
School of Nursing, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangdong, China.
Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2021 May 22;16(1):32. doi: 10.1186/s13722-021-00241-x.
Youth are frequently exposed to drugs, and most youth who misuse drugs are reluctant to seek help from services due to the worry of others being judgmental, lacking expertise, exposing their personal information, or informing their parents. Considering these concerns, we propose to evaluate the effectiveness of a medical peer-delivered intervention comprising brief motivational interviewing via instant-messaging interaction in reducing drug misuse among youth in Hong Kong.
A two-group single-blind, randomised controlled trial will be conducted. Multiple approaches, including online and face-to-face methods, will be used to recruit the participants. The participants, aged 25 years or younger and reporting any drugs that they have taken within the past 30 days, will be recruited and randomised to receive either brief motivational interviewing via interactive instant-messaging (the intervention) or general health text-messages (comparator). The primary outcome will be the change in the participants' reductions in self-reported drug consumption at 12 months compared to that at baseline. The secondary outcomes will be the changes in the drug-abusing participants' reductions in self-reported drug consumption at 6 months, the changes in the drug-quitting participants' 6- and 12-month contemplation stages and relapse risk compared to that at baseline, 30 days' self-reported drug abstinence at 6 and 12 months, and the treatment needs and motivation at 6 and 12 months compared to that at baseline. The effectiveness of the proposed intervention will be examined with adjusted regression models, with adjustment for baseline characteristics and the use of an intention-to-treat approach.
This proposed study will be the first randomised controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a medical peer-delivered interactive intervention to reduce drug misuse among youth in Hong Kong. The proposed intervention has the potential to increase the help-seeking behaviour and intention to quit among youth who misuse drugs. As a result, more youth misusing drugs may be helped to abstain from drugs. This proposed study will inform decisions on whether it is worthwhile to invest resources in large-scale implementation of such an intervention.
青少年经常接触毒品，大多数滥用药物的青少年由于担心他人评判、缺乏专业知识、暴露个人信息或告知父母而不愿意寻求服务帮助。考虑到这些问题，我们建议评估一种由医疗同伴提供的干预措施的有效性，该措施包括通过即时消息互动进行简短的动机访谈，以减少香港青少年的药物滥用。
将进行一项两组成员、单盲、随机对照试验。将采用多种方法，包括在线和面对面方法，招募参与者。参与者年龄在 25 岁或以下，报告在过去 30 天内服用过任何药物，将被招募并随机分配接受简短的动机访谈通过互动即时消息（干预）或一般健康短信（对照）。主要结果是参与者在 12 个月时自我报告的药物消耗减少与基线相比的变化。次要结果是在 6 个月时药物滥用参与者自我报告的药物消耗减少的变化，在 6 个月和 12 个月时药物戒除参与者的沉思阶段和复发风险的变化与基线相比，在 6 个月和 12 个月时 30 天的自我报告药物禁欲，以及在 6 个月和 12 个月时与基线相比的治疗需求和动机。将使用调整后的回归模型检查拟议干预的有效性，调整基线特征和采用意向治疗方法。
这项拟议的研究将是第一项评估医疗同伴提供的互动干预措施在减少香港青少年药物滥用方面有效性的随机对照试验。拟议的干预措施有可能增加药物滥用青少年寻求帮助的行为和戒烟的意愿。因此，更多的滥用药物的青少年可能会得到帮助而戒断药物。这项拟议的研究将为是否值得投资资源在大规模实施这种干预措施做出决策提供信息。
